The Trick That Failed

1909
7m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Nellie is a struggling artist whose paintings lie unsold. Billy, a successful painter, loves her, but she tells him that she cannot marry until she sells her paintings. Billy recruits his fr... Read allNellie is a struggling artist whose paintings lie unsold. Billy, a successful painter, loves her, but she tells him that she cannot marry until she sells her paintings. Billy recruits his friends to buy her paintings. At first she is excited by the sudden success, but when she le... Read allNellie is a struggling artist whose paintings lie unsold. Billy, a successful painter, loves her, but she tells him that she cannot marry until she sells her paintings. Billy recruits his friends to buy her paintings. At first she is excited by the sudden success, but when she learns the truth, Nellie leaves her sweetheart to accept the proposal of a rival painter.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

YOUR RATING

3User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos

User reviews3

6.422

Featured reviews

Single-Black-Male

Disrespect for Actors

I think the 34 year old D.W. Griffith had a disrespect for actors in the sense that he would not allow them to bring their own interpretation of a character to a story. What you see on screen is Griffith manifesting himself in various players simply because he couldn't act himself. If he didn't make so many short films, then he could be judged by his directing skills alone. As it stands, his treatment of his cast surfaces on the screen and you end up watching puppets guided by Griffith rather than actors. Mary Pickford could have given a lot more in this piece if she was empowered with the right to make changes to the script and take ownership of the role.